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Volleyball · FIVB 2025-2028

A double contact is two successive contacts; a “lift” is a catch or throw.

Published

Under the FIVB indoor rules, the ball may touch any part of the body, but it must rebound rather than be caught or thrown. The same player normally may not contact it twice in succession. Blocking and the team's first hit have specific exceptions, and named competitions use a different second-contact interpretation.

Quick ruling: apply FIVB Rules 9.1.1, 9.2.2-9.2.3 and 9.3.3-9.3.4. A held or thrown ball is a catch fault; “lift” and “carry” are common informal labels. Successive body contacts are legal during one blocking action or one action on the first team hit. On a later hit they are a double contact unless the appointed competition has a stated second-contact exception.
Scope

The ruleset and version used here

The baseline on this page is the FIVB Official Volleyball Rules 2025-2028 for six-player indoor volleyball. The edition was approved by the 39th FIVB World Congress and applies to competitions beginning after 1 January 2025.

It does not claim to govern beach volleyball, sitting volleyball, NCAA, USA Volleyball, school rules or a local recreational league. Where a current rules family materially changes the second-contact answer, the organization and edition are named. Event regulations and referee instructions can supplement the baseline.

Two different faults

Double contact and catch are not interchangeable

Double contact: FIVB Rule 9.3.4 applies when a player hits the ball twice in succession or the ball contacts different parts of that player's body successively. The issue is the number and sequence of contacts.

Catch: FIVB Rules 9.2.2 and 9.3.3 apply when the ball is caught or thrown and does not rebound from the hit. The issue is the nature of the contact. A single contact can therefore be an illegal catch, while several contacts can be legal under a first-hit or blocking exception.

Terminology: FIVB's official signal and fault name is “catch.” Spectators often say lift, carry, hold, scoop or throw, but those words do not create separate FIVB offences.
Core test

What the referee is deciding

There is no rule that a set must look technically perfect. The referee decides whether the ball rebounded, whether contacts were simultaneous or successive, and whether successive contacts occurred within an allowed single action.

  • Simultaneous contact by one player: different body parts may touch the ball at the same time, provided the ball is not caught or thrown (Rule 9.2.3).
  • Successive contact: one hand then the other, or arms then torso, normally falls under Rule 9.3.4 unless an exception applies.
  • Separate actions: a player cannot make one save, recover, and touch the ball again merely because both touches came from one desperate attempt.
  • Technique: an open palm, awkward sound, unusual posture or visible spin does not replace the contact test.
First team hit

The first-hit exception is broader than a hard-driven dig

FIVB Rule 9.2.3.2 permits the ball to contact different parts of one player's body consecutively on the first hit of the team, provided the contacts occur during one action. The wording is not limited to a spike or a hard-driven ball. It can apply to serve reception, defence of an attack, a free ball or the first hit after a block.

For example, a serve that rebounds from a receiver's forearms to the chest in one continuous action can be legal. A diving player who makes a save, completes a roll and then kicks the ball has made a later action and commits a double contact. The exception also never legalizes a catch or throw.

Block contacts

A block can contain several contacts and still count as no team hit

Under FIVB Rule 14.2, quick and continuous contacts by one or more blockers are legal when they occur during one blocking action. Rule 14.4.1 says a block contact does not count as one of the team's three hits.

The first hit after the block may be made by any player, including a player who touched the block (Rule 14.4.2). The team still has three hits. If the blocker then plays that first team hit, the first-hit exception can also apply—but the block and the later defensive play must actually be separate phases recognized by the rules.

Two teammates

Simultaneous teammate contact is not one universal count

Under FIVB Rule 9.1.2.1, when two or three teammates touch the ball at the same moment, the team is charged with two or three hits respectively, except during a block. If two teammates simultaneously make the team's first play, only one team hit remains, and a third teammate must make it; either original participant touching next would also be consecutive personal contact.

That is a genuine rules-family difference. USA Volleyball 2025-2027 Rule 9.1.2.1 instead counts simultaneous teammate contact as one hit and allows any player to play the next ball when it was not the third team hit. Do not transfer the USAV count to an FIVB match.

Setting under FIVB

The written baseline and the 2026 interpretation must be kept separate

The written FIVB 2025-2028 text does not add a general second-hit exception to Rule 9.2.3. Under that baseline, successive contacts on a setter's second team hit are a Rule 9.3.4 fault.

FIVB nevertheless tested a setting interpretation in the 2025 Volleyball Nations League: a double contact during the setting action was allowed if the ball remained on the same side, with faults still called for two clear consecutive touches; balls sent to the opponent, catches and lifts kept the existing interpretation. On 27 February 2026, FIVB announced that second-contact setting doubles would continue to be allowed in the 2026 Volleyball Nations League, FIVB U17 World Championships and 2026 Continental Championships, provided the ball remained on the same side. FIVB expressly said no rule-text change was required.

Practical consequence: do not describe the 2026 interpretation as a worldwide rewrite of Rule 9.3.4. Confirm that the appointed event is one of the named competitions, or that its own regulations adopt the interpretation.
US competition rules

USAV and NCAA write the teammate condition into the rule

USA Volleyball 2025-2027: Rule 9.2.3.2 allows successive body contacts during one action on the second team hit if the ball is next touched by a teammate. Rule 9.3.4 makes it a double-contact fault on the third hit, or on the second hit when a teammate does not touch next. The USA Volleyball Casebook revised 1 January 2026 confirms that the referee may have to wait for the next contact before ruling.

NCAA women's volleyball 2026-2027: Rules 14.2.3.1 and 14.4.4 use the same essential condition: successive contacts in one attempt are allowed on the second team contact only when a teammate contacts the ball next. A second contact that crosses to the opponent, and a doubled third contact, remain faults. NCAA Rule 14.2.2 also keeps prolonged contact, catch and throw illegal.

These exceptions apply to a player making the second team contact, not only to a designated setter and not only to an overhand set.

Attack tips

A tip must still be a hit, not a guided throw

FIVB Rule 13.1.2 allows tipping during an attack only when the ball is cleanly hit and is not caught or thrown. Finger direction, one hand or two hands, and the ball's change of course are evidence to assess in context; the controlling question remains whether it rebounded or was retained and redirected.

For the named 2026 FIVB test competitions, the implementation notice calls for strict application of Rule 9.2.2 to attack contacts. It specifically disallows changes of direction, two-hand attacks, pushes, open-hand block-outs and carries; only a very short tip is allowed. That point of emphasis belongs to those competitions and should not be presented as new wording in the 2025-2028 rulebook.

Outcome

The fault ends the rally and awards the opponent the point

Under FIVB Rules 6.1.1-6.1.3, a team wins the rally when its opponent commits a fault. The opponent scores a point and either gains the next service or continues serving. The catch signal is a slow upward lift of the forearm with palm up; the double-contact signal is two raised fingers (Diagram 11, signals 16 and 17).

There is no advantage provision that preserves play after a recognized catch or double contact. If opponents commit faults simultaneously, FIVB Rule 6.1.2.2 calls a double fault and replay; if faults occur successively, only the first is counted.

Video review is not automatic. FIVB competitions use the challenge categories and procedures in their event regulations; the published 2025 Video Challenge System Regulations use a defined challenge menu and reject non-challengeable requests. Television replay by itself does not give a team a right to challenge an ordinary ball-handling judgment.

Worked case 1

Serve receive rebounds from arms to chest

Situation: the receiving team's first contact strikes both forearms and then the receiver's chest in one continuous reaction.

FIVB 2025-2028 ruling: legal, provided the ball was not caught or thrown. Rule 9.2.3.2 permits consecutive body contacts on the first team hit when they occur during one action. The fact that the ball came from a serve is not the decisive fact; the contact number and single action are.

Worked case 2

A doubled second contact stays with the attacking team

Situation: in a 2026 VNL match, the setter contacts the ball successively during the setting action, and a teammate attacks it without the ball first crossing to the opponent.

FIVB 2026 VNL ruling: play continues under the named 2026 interpretation, unless the contact was a catch/throw or two clear consecutive touches. The decisive facts are that it was the setting action on the second contact and the ball remained on the same side.

FIVB rulebook-only ruling: in a competition using only the written 2025-2028 baseline and no adopted interpretation, the same successive contact is a Rule 9.3.4 fault.

Worked case 3

The referee waits to see who touches next

Situation: under USA Volleyball 2025-2027, a player clearly doubles the second team hit. The ball travels toward a teammate, who sends it over the net.

USAV ruling: legal. Rule 9.2.3.2 and Casebook case 9.34 allow the successive contacts because the teammate touches next. If the ball instead crosses to the opponent without a teammate's touch, Rule 9.3.4 makes the second contact a fault. This is why the whistle can be delayed.

Worked case 4

A soft set is held and redirected

Situation: the ball settles in the player's hands and is then directed toward a teammate in one apparent contact.

Ruling in every ruleset discussed here: catch/throw fault. The second-contact exceptions remove certain successive-contact judgments; they do not remove the requirement that the ball rebound. A teammate's next touch cannot cure a catch that has already occurred.

Decision path

How to rule a disputed contact

  1. Name the ruleset and event. Start with FIVB, USAV, NCAA or the actual competition regulations.
  2. Identify a block. A legal block has its own consecutive-contact rule and does not use a team hit.
  3. Count the team hit. First, second and third contacts do not have identical exceptions.
  4. Test rebound before sequence. A caught or thrown ball is already a fault, even where a double would be allowed.
  5. Decide simultaneous or successive. Simultaneous body contacts are different from one body part followed by another.
  6. Apply the single-action limit. First-hit, block and permitted second-hit contacts do not legalize two separate playing actions.
  7. For a second-hit exception, follow the ball. Check whether it stayed on the same side or was next contacted by a teammate, using the exact wording of the competition.
  8. Apply the rally outcome. The first fault controls; award the opponent the point and service status unless a simultaneous double fault requires a replay.
Common mistakes

Five shortcuts that give the wrong answer

  • “Spin proves a double.” NCAA's 2026-2027 judgment guidelines expressly say ball spin is not a legality test; USA Volleyball's current casebook likewise treats spin as non-decisive.
  • “Messy first contact is always legal.” Only contacts within one action are protected, and a catch or throw is still a fault.
  • “Every second-contact double is now legal.” The event must adopt an exception, and its teammate or same-side condition must be satisfied.
  • “A block uses the first team hit.” Not in FIVB indoor volleyball: the team still has three hits after a legal block contact.
  • “Two teammates touching together always counts as one.” FIVB counts two or three teammate contacts as two or three hits; USAV uses a different domestic rule.
Official references

Governing-body sources and effective versions

Checked on 28 August 2026 against the FIVB rulebook effective for competitions beginning after 1 January 2025 and FIVB's 2026 implementation notice. The FIVB second-contact interpretation is competition-specific; an event's regulations and appointed referee instructions control where they supplement the baseline.